HORROR: Mom wants right to "euthanize" her disabled children

On a recent episode of Dr. Phil, a mom with two handicapped kids (kids that are now adults) describes why she wants the right to euthanize her severely-disabled children. Glenn explains that when the children were young she had them put in a home, and visits them a few times a month, but now, she wants to “put them out of their misery.”

“Janet and Jeffrey were able to make a decision about life, they would opt for suicide. There have been times when I thought of doing something myself, but the saying "Walk in another man's moccasins," unless you've been there, don't judge,” the mother said when describing the situation about her children on Dr. Phil.

“Now, how does she know that, first of all?” Pat asked. “How do you know that? If they were able to make a decision, they would opt for suicide? You know that for a fact? You know what they're feeling?”

“We’re opting for suicide. That’s not a reasonable decision,” Glenn added. “You don’t even let adults make that decision. Suicide is not an option.”

In this video from the Dr. Phil episode the mom, Annette, explains why she only visits her children two times a month. In the video she compares her children to newborn babies – an odd description in an argument to ‘put them down.’

A mother of seven, three of which are disabled, vehemently disagreed with the Annette’s desire to kill her children. She, like Glenn, was disgusted at the thought of what was being debated in this show. “I'm sorry that those children are the way they are. I'm sorry that my child might be that way someday. I will not euthanize my child because it's too much trouble for me. I will not euthanize my child because the government doesn't want to pay for it,” she said.

You can see the exchange in the clip below:

Frustrated by the way the argument is being positioned, Glenn brought up a good question: Why are we calling this euthanizaing? “Stop using the word "euthanize." Stop using the word "euthanize." We don't even use that word with animals. We put them down. And that's what she's talking about, putting them down. Killing them. Why do we have to use "euthanize"? If it's okay to do, what you are doing is killing them.”

“Yeah, this is just another pro-choice effort,” Stu replied. “Instead of calling it abortion, let's call it choice.”

Glenn brought up the point that we don’t call killing “euthanize” on death row, we call it putting someone to death. The show is advocating injections, so why the language change?

After the mother of seven spoke up and defended the lives of Annette’s children, Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who gained notoriety for his outspoken defense of the late assisted suicide advocate, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, joined the debate.

“You know we're not disagreeing here. The only question is nobody should ever make you do something you don't believe in, and the same with Annette. Government shouldn't make her do that,” he said.

This statement caused a disturbing roar of applause from Dr. Phil’s studio audience. “The most disturbing part of the exchange is the reaction of the audience. Now, you want to know where our country is headed, I want you to listen to this. And not only listen to Dr. Phil but listen to the audience,” Glenn said.

Glenn warned listeners that if you look back at history, the reaction of this audience to what they are witnessing is extremely disturbing. At the beginning of the show, Glenn explains that Dr. Phil polled the audience members to see who agreed and who disagreed – only three disagreed with the mother’s desires.

“Almost everybody in the audience, but again, you know, you hate to bring up the Nazi references but it’s a fact,” Pat added. “This is how it started in Germany.”

He explained that “compassion” was supposedly the excuse in Germany when they started killing people, and it began with the handicapped, not the Jews. When all was said and done nearly 300,000 handicapped people had been killed. It ended up coming down to contribution to society.

The comments being made to support the arguments made by this woman about her disabled children are a red flag if you pay attention to history. Glenn noted both George Bernard Shaw and Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger as examples of what this kind of thought can lead to. It is a slippery slope.

Glenn explained that the day after he saw this segment on Dr. Phil there was a story of this seven year old girl from Pennsylvania who has no hands, and just won the penmanship award. Her name is Annie Clark, and on Friday, she, along with an audience of about fifty parents of special needs children, will join Glenn on GBTV at 5pm ET for a show you do not want to miss.

This was one of the first homesteads in the area in the 1880's and was just begging to be brought back to its original glory — with a touch of modern. When we first purchased the property, it was full of old stuff without any running water, central heat or AC, so needless to say, we had a huge project ahead of us. It took some vision and a whole lot of trust, but the mess we started with seven years ago is now a place we hope the original owners would be proud of.

To restore something like this is really does take a village. It doesn't take much money to make it cozy inside, if like me you are willing to take time and gather things here and there from thrift shops and little antique shops in the middle of nowhere.

But finding the right craftsman is a different story.

Matt Jensen and his assistant Rob did this entire job from sketches I made. Because he built this in his off hours it took just over a year, but so worth the wait. It wasn't easy as it was 18"out of square. He had to build around that as the entire thing we felt would collapse. Matt just reinforced the structure and we love its imperfections.

Here are a few pictures of the process and the transformation from where we started to where we are now:

​How it was

By request a photo tour of the restored cabin. I start doing the interior design in earnest tomorrow after the show, but all of the construction guys are now done. So I mopped the floors, washed the sheets, some friends helped by washing the windows. And now the unofficial / official tour.

The Property

The Hong Kong protesters flocking to the streets in opposition to the Chinese government have a new symbol to display their defiance: the Stars and Stripes. Upset over the looming threat to their freedom, the American flag symbolizes everything they cherish and are fighting to preserve.

But it seems our president isn't returning the love.

Trump recently doubled down on the United States' indifference to the conflict, after initially commenting that whatever happens is between Hong Kong and China alone. But he's wrong — what happens is crucial in spreading the liberal values that America wants to accompany us on the world stage. After all, "America First" doesn't mean merely focusing on our own domestic problems. It means supporting liberal democracy everywhere.

The protests have been raging on the streets since April, when the government of Hong Kong proposed an extradition bill that would have allowed them to send accused criminals to be tried in mainland China. Of course, when dealing with a communist regime, that's a terrifying prospect — and one that threatens the judicial independence of the city. Thankfully, the protesters succeeded in getting Hong Kong's leaders to suspend the bill from consideration. But everyone knew that the bill was a blatant attempt by the Chinese government to encroach on Hong Kong's autonomy. And now Hong Kong's people are demanding full-on democratic reforms to halt any similar moves in the future.

After a generation under the "one country, two systems" policy, the people of Hong Kong are accustomed to much greater political and economic freedom relative to the rest of China. For the protesters, it's about more than a single bill. Resisting Xi Jinping and the Communist Party means the survival of a liberal democracy within distance of China's totalitarian grasp — a goal that should be shared by the United States. Instead, President Trump has retreated to his administration's flawed "America First" mindset.

This is an ideal opportunity for the United States to assert our strength by supporting democratic values abroad. In his inaugural address, Trump said he wanted "friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world" while "understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their interests first." But at what point is respecting sovereignty enabling dictatorships? American interests are shaped by the principles of our founding: political freedom, free markets, and human rights. Conversely, the interests of China's Communist Party are the exact opposite. When these values come into conflict, as they have in Hong Kong, it's our responsibility to take a stand for freedom — even if those who need it aren't within our country's borders.

Of course, that's not a call for military action. Putting pressure on Hong Kong is a matter of rhetoric and positioning — vital tenets of effective diplomacy. When it comes to heavy-handed world powers, it's an approach that can really work. When the Solidarity movement began organizing against communism in Poland, President Reagan openly condemned the Soviet military's imposition of martial law. His administration's support for the pro-democracy movement helped the Polish people gain liberal reforms from the Soviet regime. Similarly, President Trump doesn't need to be overly cautious about retribution from Xi Jinping and the Chinese government. Open, strong support for democracy in Hong Kong not only advances America's governing principles, but also weakens China's brand of authoritarianism.

After creating a commission to study the role of human rights in U.S. foreign policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote last month that the principles of our Constitution are central "not only to Americans," but to the rest of the world. He was right — putting "America First" means being the first advocate for freedom across the globe. Nothing shows the strength of our country more than when, in crucial moments of their own history, other nations find inspiration in our flag.

Let's join the people of Hong Kong in their defiance of tyranny.

Matt Liles is a writer and Young Voices contributor from Austin, Texas.

Summer is ending and fall is in the air. Before you know it, Christmas will be here, a time when much of the world unites to celebrate the love of family, the generosity of the human spirit, and the birth of the Christ-child in Bethlehem.

For one night only at the Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City, on December 7th, join internationally-acclaimed radio host and storyteller Glenn Beck as he walks you through tales of Christmas in the way that only he can. There will be laughs, and there might be a few tears. But at the end of the night, you'll leave with a warm feeling in your heart and a smile on your face.

Reconnect to the true spirit of Christmas with Glenn Beck, in a storytelling tour de force that you won't soon forget.